Amazon.com Seller Central
Amazon.com launched its 3rd party sales platform for non-media items in 2003. Seller Central is currently used by thousands of businesses to list products. This platform facilitates sellers of 15 additional product categories including electronics, computers, cameras, photo items, computer software, computer games, tools and hardware.
Please take the time to review the
list of categories that Monsoon supports on Seller Central. Not all categories are currently supported by Monsoon, so please check the list carefully.
Opportunity:
Amazon.com Seller Central currently is active only in the US. In 2005, Seller Central boasted sales of $1.4 billion, which was 30.6% of Amazon's total 2005 North American sales ($4.7 billion total). What is significant about the size of this sales number is that it is all sales by third party sellers, unlike Amazon.com marketplace where sales are split between Amazon.com and third parties. Amazon averages 41 million visitors each month.
| Monsoon Opportunity Index |
| ISBN Books |
— |
| Specialty/Rare/Non-ISBN Books |
— |
| CDs |
— |
| DVDs |
— |
| Vinyl Records |
— |
| Software |
 |
| Computers |
|
| Video Games |
|
| Electronics |
 |
| Photo |
|
| Tools |
 |
Note:
Seller Central accounts need to be approved by Amazon.com prior to launch. If you do not have a Seller Central account and need help setting one up, please contact the Monsoon sales department for assistance.
Marketplace Pricing:
Sellers on Amazon.com Seller Central pay no fee to list products. Amazon sellers
pay a transaction fee to Amazon when a item sells. Amazon does not publish rates
for Seller Central, but general information about rates can be found here.
You will be exempt from Amazon's $0.99 per order base charge because you must
open and maintain an Amazon Pro Merchant account to use Monsoon ($39.95 per month).
Shipping:
Sellers on Amazon Seller Central set their own shipping amounts and pay
commission on both the sales price of the item and on the shipping amount they
set. There are no variable closing costs as in Amazon Marketplace.
For more information, click here.
Payment Processing:
For items sold through Amazon Marketplace, Seller Central, zShops and Auctions, payments are processed by Amazon.com Payments, which accepts major credit cards from buyers. Sellers have an Amazon.com merchant account where payment proceeds are deposited, less any transaction fees, shipping holdbacks, or other Amazon charges. Sellers can transfer deposits from their Amazon merchant account to a bank account periodically through the Amazon.com website.
Monsoon and Amazon:
Sellers wishing to use Monsoon to sell on Amazon will need to open and pay for an Amazon Pro Merchant account at a cost of $39.95 per month. This account gives Monsoon access to special data and reporting that is used by our software to process your transactions. Within 15 days of starting your Monsoon software, you will also be asked to download a developer token from Amazon that you will enter into your Monsoon software. Full documentation on these procedures will be supplied with your Monsoon software. Additionally, if you do not already have a Seller Central account, you will need to be approved by the Amazon.com category team for the category in which you sell. If you need assistance with this process, please call Monsoon sales for assistance.
|
